Welcome to the autumn issue of The World Today. In parallel with every other challenge facing it, the world is reckoning with another – a technology that, some say, will have a greater effect than the Industrial Revolution and in a matter of years, not decades: artificial intelligence. Opening our cover package, six experts across the field wrestle with the big questions of regulation, politics and economics that AI poses. In an interview with me, Sebastian Mallaby says the United States and China urgently need to put aside the AI race to stop bad actors exploiting the technology. Can Britain’s armed forces keep sovereign control of its AI tools? Yes, Phil Tinline writes, but they will need to tread carefully.
Elsewhere, The World Tomorrow, our new strand on global order, continues with Steve Tsang, who argues that the West has to better understand ‘Xi Thought’ if it wishes to counter the Chinese leader’s global strategy. The turmoil of the Middle East continues. In the Persian Gulf, writes Mohsen Milani, the failure of the US war on Iran will leave Tehran’s leadership stronger, compel the Arab monarchies to rethink their security and offer China an opening. Yaakov Katz looks forward to Israel’s forthcoming general election and regrets the absence of a key issue: the country’s deepening global isolation.
South Africa’s November elections may be local, but Kiri Rupiah says they will offer a chance to assess whether a wave of anti-migrant protests have political consequences. Finally, Nadia Murad, the Yazidi Nobel Peace laureate, reflects on the pressures that made her consider giving up her global campaign to support the victims of conflict-related sexual violence. We hope you enjoy these and other articles in the autumn issue. Mike Higgins, editor.